56 TRIASSIC FISHES AND PLANTS. 
the cabinet of Yale College. Unfortunately it is vertically crushed and nar- 
rowed, and gives a very imperfect idea of the species to which it belongs. 
After examining the specimen I am convinced that it should be associated 
with the broad form, for which the name C. Redfieldi was suggested by Sir 
Philip Egerton, That fish in its normal condition has nearly the outline 
of the shad, and with a length of ten inches has frequently a breadth of 
three; the name Catopterus gracilis is therefore inappropriate, and conveys a 
false impression. If the specimen figured were accepted as the type it 
would be better to consider it a synonym of C. Redfieldi and abandon the 
name C. gracilis. But there is a species of Catopterus which is much more 
slender than C. Redfieldi, and of this numerous svecimens were in the 
hands of the Messrs. Redfield, and doubtless influenced them in selecting 
the specific name gracilis. It is certain that specimens of this fish served as 
a basis, in part at least, for J. H. Redfield’s description, and it is even 
doubtful whether any good specimen of C. Redfieldi was ever examined by 
either W. C. or J. H. Redfield. They have mostly been procured from 
Durham, Conn., by Mr. 8. W. Loper, in the last ten years. From these 
facts it has seemed to me less liable to produce confusion and to do more 
complete justice to Messrs. Redfield to retain the name gracilis for the more 
slender fish, to which the description of J. I. Redfield is not inappropriate, 
while it is not applicable to the broader form to which the specific name 
Redfieldi has been given. 
I will only add to the description of J. H. Redfield that Catopterus 
gracilis is always fusiform, often quite slender, the head never more than 
one-fifth of the entire length, the fins relatively long and narrow, the body 
widest at the ventrals, where it is sometimes, though rarely, an inch anda 
half in width, and behind the dorsal often not much more than half an inch 
wide; the scales are quadrate near the head, oblong in the middle, and 
rhomboid at the posterior extremity of the body. They are sometimes finely 
serrate on the posterior margins, never deeply toothed as in C. Redfeldi, 
and the surface in all the specimens I have seen is essentially plain. On 
Pl. XVI, Fig. 1, is represented an entire fish of this species, and one of the 
broader forms, while Fig. 3 shows the posterior half of the body of one of 
the more slender individuals. The difference of form between this and 
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